The Freaky Dynamics of Sound Waves in Water in Microgravity

Don Pettit, an astronaut on board the International Space Station, uses laptop speakers and an mp3 player to demonstrate the physics of sound in space. 250 miles above the surface of the Earth, the Space Station feels 88% of the gravitational pull we feel down here, but the spacecraft and everything in it are actually in free fall (aka in orbit), creating an almost zero-gravity environment called microgravity. Pettit's educational series, Science off the Sphere, is a collaboration with the American Physical Society. Turn up the audio to appreciate the ZZ Top soundtrack.

Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg joined The Atlantic in 2011 to launch its video channel and, in 2013, create its in-house video production department. She leads the development and production of original documentaries, interviews, and other video content for The Atlantic. Previously, she worked as a producer at Al Gore’s Current TV and as a content strategist and documentary producer in San Francisco. She studied filmmaking and digital media at Harvard University.